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Coinbase launches UK crypto derivatives for professional investors
The UK rollout includes perpetuals up to 50x leverage and dated futures up to 20x, limited to professional clients under FCA rules.
Coinbase is expanding in the UK by opening futures, perpetuals, and options for professional investors, with more than 170 contracts spanning crypto, commodities, equities, and foreign exchange. The offering includes perpetuals that trade around the clock with no expiry date and leverage up to 50x.
Dated futures settle on fixed dates, with cost-of-carry priced at entry rather than charging funding rates, and they cap leverage at 20x. Coinbase also offers crypto options, limited to crypto underlyings, including call and put strategies across single and multi-leg structures.
The launch follows the UK regulator FCA granting Coinbase a MiFID investment services authorization in July, which the company says enables it to offer instruments beyond crypto. Since 2021, the FCA has barred sales of crypto derivatives to UK retail consumers, leaving offshore venues as the main option for individual traders.
Coinbase said the rollout will be progressive and framed the move as part of its Everything Exchange strategy to combine crypto, stocks, derivatives, and prediction markets in one app. According to the company, global crypto derivatives volume is typically 4.4 times spot, which it argues leaves professional traders relying on venues outside regulated markets.